Irish Ferries have announced that their ship Ulysses will have to be removed from service until 'the middle of next week'.

In a statement the company said that the ship, which serves the Dublin to Holyhead route, had a 'technical issue' and it has been taken out of service until it could be repaired.

Irish Ferries say that they expect it to return to normal service by the middle of next week.

All passengers affected are being contacted by the company and the company say they will be accommodated on another ship or an alternative sailing.

In their statement the company apologised for the disruption.

"Irish Ferries apologises for this unforeseen disruption, and can confirm that its other ships on the route continue to operate. In addition, the company will operate additional sailings over the week-end, which may mean altering some existing schedules to accommodate these. All passengers are being notified in advance and offered a suitable alternative."

The company have not revealed how many bookings have been affected.

The news comes just weeks after the company announced delays to the arrival of its W.B. Yeats cruise ferry, with all sailings on it up to September 13 cancelled.

The company say that 90pc of the customers affected by that cancellation have now been accommodated.